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So I am going to be building my own heat lamp display here soon. I see some people use halogen bulbs and some people using the red heat lamp normal bulb. Could someone explain the difference to me? Which one is better to show how the film performs? Also if anyone has any pictures of there shops heat display set up that would be super helpful. Thanks!

-Michael

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Sure ... Halogen bulbs are the closest match to the sun's energy (UV, Visible and Near Infrared) of any light bulb available at the consumer level. Bulbs used in labs to mimic the sun can cost in the thousands of dollar, making it impractical for consumer level film comparative displays.

Infrared bulbs (AKA french fry or heat lamp bulbs) have infrared output in the 95 percentile range and only 5% visible light. They may show a film perform better in the infrared range however, infrared only makes up about 48% of the sun's energy. Using this type bulb is very misleading when it comes to film performance.

All of the sun's energy becomes heat once it strikes a surface, whether it's a dashboard, and arm or a seat. Infrared is felt first because it goes deeper in and beyond the skin, causing inner moisture to heat up and nerve receptors in the vicinity pick this up. Water is a superior absorber of near infrared.

Visible light makes up another 48-49 percent of the sun's energy and it too will be felt as heat after striking and object's surface. UV also is felt as heat. These last two of the three are not felt as quickly since they are absorbed at the surface.

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I like the idea of using halogen bulbs, for the type of light they provide and also because of there small size. But my only concern is that they might not be powerful enough to adequately show a performance difference between a dyed film carbon film and ceramic film. Does anyone have both or prefer one over the other for this reason? Or do halogen bulbs throw enough light and heat to feel on your hand a clear difference?

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Halogen Bulbs work fine...my original Llumar display came with a halogen bulb, the new one comes with infrared bulb...my 3M display also comes with an infrared bulb. Having an infrared bulb will only benefit which displaying a high infrared rejection window film.

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I like infared bulbs. I especially like the 6" 250 watt bulbs. I really do not care how solar energy gets to the glass just as long as it gets there because any energy will turn into heat. At this point, you can see exactly how the film will manage the heat as it re radiates from the glass through convection and conduction. Your hand will tell you which films actually work the best. Don't get caught up in the bulb too much. The most powerful bulb that heats the glass the quickest will get to the truth on how the product will slow down the heat. Your hand will tell you if it works or not. It is that simple and that is all you can expect out of a heat box. If you want to know how much solar energy transmits through the film, use a broad spectrum beam splitter to get you that information. Just do not confuse heat with solar energy. Even though heat is a form of energy, it is a byproduct of solar energy. Just because a film has great solar transmission data does not mean it will be able to slow down the heat that is created after the solar energy has been absorbed and converted to heat.

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I like infared bulbs. I especially like the 6" 250 watt bulbs. I really do not care how solar energy gets to the glass just as long as it gets there because any energy will turn into heat. At this point, you can see exactly how the film will manage the heat as it re radiates from the glass through convection and conduction. Your hand will tell you which films actually work the best. Don't get caught up in the bulb too much. The most powerful bulb that heats the glass the quickest will get to the truth on how the product will slow down the heat. Your hand will tell you if it works or not. It is that simple and that is all you can expect out of a heat box. If you want to know how much solar energy transmits through the film, use a broad spectrum beam splitter to get you that information. Just do not confuse heat with solar energy. Even though heat is a form of energy, it is a byproduct of solar energy. Just because a film has great solar transmission data does not mean it will be able to slow down the heat that is created after the solar energy has been absorbed and converted to heat.

Says the guy still not changing his tune after being spoken to by the science guy in tech support at the leading film manufacturer a few years ago about his misunderstanding of how film works against solar energy, solar energy as a producer of heat, and the use of infrared bulbs to mislead clients in selling film.

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Says the guy still not changing his tune after being spoken to by the science guy in tech support at the leading film manufacturer a few years ago about his misunderstanding of how film works against solar energy, solar energy as a producer of heat, and the use of infrared bulbs to mislead clients in selling film.

hmmm who ever are you talking about? i remember a guy that worked for llumar years ago